Nearly 200 Muslim employees were fired from a meat-packing plant in Colorado last week after striking over a prayer dispute.
The workers, most of whom are Somali immigrants, stopped showing up for work at Cargill Meat Solutions in Fort Morgan in protest after 11 employees were told they could not pray at the same time because it would affect production.
The 11 decided to stop working and pray anyway, and 190 employees walked out of the plant in protest over the restrictions.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has accused the company of treating the workers in a "discriminatory manner".
Jaylani Hussein, a spokesman for CAIR, said in a YouTube video posted by the group that the workers objected to new restrictions on their ability to worship on the job, "which they had been granted for a long period of time."
"All of these employees are good employees [and] don't have any other issues," Hussein said, adding that the dispute stemmed from a "misunderstanding on policy changes" by Cargill regarding workplace prayer.
Mike Martin, a spokesman for Minneapolis-based Cargill, disputed assertions the company had changed its policy, noting that since 2009 the Fort Morgan plant has set aside an on-site "reflection area" for people of all faiths.
"Cargill makes every reasonable attempt to provide religious accommodations to all employees based on our ability to do so without disruption to our beef-processing business," he said. He said the degree of flexibility the company can extend for prayers depends on a variety of factors, including daily work-flow considerations.
Martin said about 200 workers walked off the job last week and were warned that failing to show up for work on three consecutive days without calling in could jeopardise their employment.
Plant managers met with the workers, members of the Somali community and Teamsters union leaders who represent nearly 2,000 hourly workers at the plant but were unable to resolve the issue, he said.
After 190 workers failed to show up without notice for three days straight, "termination procedures were initiated" and those workers were dismissed, Martin said.
Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Human Rights Commission, said Cargill managers may not have understood that depending on the time of year Muslims are required to pray at different times during the day.
Speaking to the Denver Post, Hussein said that for the Muslims who walked out, "missing their prayer is worse than losing their job".
"It's like losing a blessing from God," he explained.
Additional reporting by Reuters
